Pages

Welcome to "From Bitter Waters to Sweet"

As I walked the streets of my small midwest town praying for the people and the churches of the town, the words came to me, "Make bitter waters sweet."Those words made no sense at the time.Surely if those words actually came from God they weren't about me. I, the pastor's wife, had a life that other women in my church envied.Shortly after that, my life fell apart and the bitterness that lurked beneath the surface came to the top.But God did not leave me there. Just as He can make crooked paths straight, raise valleys, and lower mountains, so also could He make bitter waters sweet.This blog contains bits and pieces and large chunks of my ongoing journey from bitter waters to sweet.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Strong Men, I.C.

Yep, you read it right. I.C. because I don't know his name. But he has a blog and I was made aware of it through Lewis's blog.

A certain fellow by the name of Spencer came to Lewis's blog one day, and was determined to set us all straight on the clear Biblical teaching of female subordination and the need for tactics for fathers to control their rebellious daughters.

I.C. wrote an open letter to Spencer on his own blog, and I'll tell ya. I.C.'s anger and indignation was not unlike Jesus going into the temple with a whip and chasing out the money changers. Jesus said that God's house was to be a house of prayer but men were making it a den of thieves.This is what is going on in sections of Christianity. There a thieves who are stealing freedom from others. Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. But the thieves have exchanged the truth for a lie, labeled it 'biblical' and even called it 'clearly scriptural'. And the lie has brought deep bondage into the lives of women.

With the same zeal that Jesus drove out the money changers, I.C. set about to boldly confront a truth exchanger who is seduced by the lies of patriarchy.

The truth exchangers pretend to be brothers, and even in a sense may be Christian brothers. But they are very misled brothers like my sister-in-law's bio brother who didn't know how to be an actual brother. (May 9th post)

I.C.. along with Lewis, knows how to be a true brother, a defender of women against the thieves who are out to steal freedom in Jesus. It's exciting for me to see men who are strong and love women with the love of the Lord rather than with the love of gaining seats of honor for themselves.

7 comments:

Well, the world can be a very dangerous place for all people, especially women.

We ladies need to know which guys we can trust, the ones who are not only safe, but look to our safety.

A lot of men pretend to be safe but still have hidden agendas.

It's so nice to see fellows come unglued and take to task the men that try to control and manipulate all the while putting the 'clearly biblical' stamp of approval on it like God agrees with them or something.

Thank you for being a strong, secure man who stands on the side of right against a thick darkness that threatens the entire church and world.

After a series on small men who use scripture to put women down, I NEEDED to focus on men like you. I know there are good men in the world. Focusing on the not so good ones gets so depressing.Plus, I believe in giving credit where credit is due.

Be blessed and continue to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord.

There is something that makes IC even more special: Considering his upbringing, he could easily have been the opposite. To quote:

men coming out of this movement ... are taught that their place is to rule over women and many of them have no healthy relational boundaries set. To them, the world revolves around them and yet the world is what needs to be feared.... I am one of those men. - Incongruous Circumspection, on Lewis' blog

He learned that the world revolve him as a man - and renounced it. He learned that women are lesser beings - and renounced it. He rejected it all to the degree that, when Spencer asked for proof that women are not lesser beings, IC likened it to asking him, IC, a husband and father who'se photo is male, to prove his gender. And his mother seems to be someone who could have worsened his negative opinion of women.

Yet, IC righteously defends women. It takes a lot of moral and intellectual courage to renounce all you thought you knew- and learn new values from scratch.

Ok. Everyone. You need to live with me for two weeks. Then, you'll see me for who I really am. My wife is one special soul to have stuck it out with me this long. I think I'm going to go ahead and divert the attention to her.

Or...even to my oldest daughter (9 years old) who, when I told her that I wanted the house clean, but I knew it wouldn't get clean because I didn't have perfect kids, she said, "And I want a perfect dad!"

Its stuff like that that begins to crack my shell. My desire is to never become complacent and slip back into what I grew up with.